Mano A Mujer
by BatYisrael
Summary: Castle and Beckett have their re-match, and Castle is going to make sure he wins. Tag/very end spoilers for "Ghosts"


**A/N: Hey guys! This is my first attempt at a fic for Castle. I wasn't originally planning to write anything, but the idea would ****not**** leave me alone. This takes place right at the end of **_**Ghosts**_**, when Beckett and Castle have their re-match. I'm considering making this a twoshot, so let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: If they were mine, I'd be playing with them.**

"_Now we're even. So what do you say to a little showdown? Hand to hand. Toe to toe. Winner take all. Mano a mujer."_

"_Hand to woman?"_

"_Whatever it takes."_

"_You're on."_

"_No mercy."_

"_I'm gonna make you hurt."_

"_Oh, you're gonna get hurt."_

"_What are we playing for?"_

"_Pride. Or clothing."_

"_I think I got a bag of gummy bears."_

xxx

Beckett pulled the bag of gummy bears out of her desk. She actually wished that they had decided to play for money. She was getting a headache from lack of sleep, and she needed some sugar. She guessed it would just increase her already extremely competitive need to win. She plopped them on the desk in between them. The sound seemed to echo in the silence. She proceeded to stare Castle down, daring him to make the next move.

The full force of Beckett's stare was making Rick Castle more than a little uncomfortable. He had seen subjects break with just a glance from his muse, and now he knew why. She was intimidatingly beautiful, and she could make her eyes as cold as ice. Nervously, he adjusted his collar, swallowed, then shuffled the cards. He dealt quickly and decisively. It was his turn to fix Beckett with the most charming smile in his arsenal. He had numbered and categorized his smile. This was heart-melting smile number one. He had skipped the usual levels and gone straight to what he thought to be the most devastatingly attractive one.

His smile had the same affect on Beckett that her glare had had on him. She suddenly felt exactly how close they were, leaning over the table to look at eachother. The breath coming out of his mouth washed warmly over her face. _He uses cinammon toothpaste,_ she thought. _I'm glad. Kissing guys with bad breath is gross._ She shook her head a little. How had that gotten in there? Since when was she interested in kissing Richard Castle, royal pain in the ass? She picked up her cards and looked at them. Crappy hand. She composed her expression so that it wouldn't tell him anything then looked up over her cards at Castle to see if she could bluff. His smooth face gave nothing away.

Castle picked up his cards when he was done enjoying the blush creeping up Kate's neck. He had long ago decided that they would eventually sleep together, and so he was not quite as uncomfortable with their proximity. He was, however, worried about his hand. It was horrible. When they were playing for money, it was easy to just give up, but now that they were playing for honor, he couldn't lose. He stared unabashedly at Beckett, wondering if he'd be able to bluff and charm his way through. She was looking back at him, her face giving away nothing. The corner of her mouth curled upward in a twitch of a confident grin when she caught him studying her. _Damn, she might actually have a good hand._

It was then that an idea struck.

As Kate placed her bet, he put his hand on her knee. He called and inched his hand up further. She raised him two red gummy bears, alarm clearly showing in her face, and his hand was on her arm. He could almost feel her pulse racing, _hear_ her heart beating wildly.

Beckett was trying to look anywhere but at Castle. Her pile of gummy bears suddenly became the most interesting thing in the whole room. His earlier words were ringing in her ears. _Mano a mujer._ Hand to woman. _He wouldn't actually chance it in the middle of the office, would he?_ she wondered to herself. _Nevermind, this is Castle I'm thinking about. Of course he would._ Her heart was determined to beat a path through her ribcage. Someone was going to think she was choking in a minute. _Breathe, Becket, breathe,_ she reminded herself.

Castle smiled, knowing exactly what he was doing to her. His hand was moving slowly and torturously up her arm. Her brain tried t o tell her eyes not to follow it, but they did anyway. "Kate," he said, using sexy voice number three (he labeled those as well, and he decided not to go full force with the voice at first. Used in combination with touch, she might melt), "it's your turn." He felt her jump a little before she slid a green gummy bear into the middle.

_Why aren't I telling Castle to get his hand off of me or I'll shoot it off?_ Becket asked herself. The truth that she wouldn't admit to herself was that she liked it there, wanted it to stay there. Then she looked down, realizing that her pile of gummy bears was dwindling quickly. _Damn him, he's stealing my candy!_ she thought angrily to herself, trying to shake off the dizzy fog enveloping her head and focus on the game.

Castle, again pretty much seeing into her head, smiled. _Time for phase two,_ he thought, and his hand reached up further and more quickly.

He'd never heard Beckett giggle before. He'd only heard her chuckle dryly and sarcastically. As he began to _tickle_ her, he realized that he liked her giggle. She sounded like a little schoolgirl. She frantically tried to get out from his grasp, angrily swatting away his hands. He stood up and slid one arm around her waist to get a better angle. She twisted, but only managed to be drawn in closer to the infuriating man. Finally, running out of breath, she yelled "Alright, mercy! I fold! You win!"

He let go of her, satisfied. Castle couldn't ignore the shadow of disappointment that crossed Beckett's face when he stepped away. He filed that little bit away to resolve some other time. Grumpily, she shoved her pile of candy over to him. "Your winnings," she said bitterly.

Castle used smug smile number two as he swept out the door.


End file.
